Americans believe that taking aspirin daily helps lower the risk of heart disease and cancer.
According to the latest recommendations of the American Health and Drug Administration, middle-aged people at risk of heart disease should take aspirin every day, while the British National Health Fund believes that such treatment does more harm than good.
The US Preventative Services Task Force, an American team of experts evaluating the effectiveness of preventive medicine, says the benefits of taking this cheap painkiller to prevent colon cancer and cardiovascular disease by far outweigh the dangers of increasing the risk of stomach bleeding.
According to Americans, people aged 50-69 who have an increased risk of heart disease but are not at risk of bleeding should consider taking aspirin daily.
British specialists do not agree with these recommendations, who believe that aspirin should only be taken daily by people diagnosed with heart disease.
A recent report by the National Institute for Health Research, the UK NHF’s coordinating medical research agency, found that widespread use of aspirin would be detrimental to the population as a whole, “increasing the possibility of hemorrhages”.
A similar position is taken by the British Heart Foundation, which advises against regular intake of aspirin for preventive purposes.
– In the case of patients with cardiovascular diseases, especially those after a heart attack or stroke, studies have shown that the benefits of taking aspirin clearly outweigh the risk of side effects, explains the representatives of the foundation.
“But for people who are not diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, the risk of possible side effects is greater than the benefit of preventing blood clots.
Aspirin reduces blood clotting and, as a result, lowers the risk of blood clots in the blood vessels, leading to embolism and heart attack.
Taking low-dose aspirin has been shown to help prevent heart attacks, strokes and cancer, but it also increases the risk of serious side effects, especially gastrointestinal haemorrhage, and hemorrhagic stroke.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the UK, with approximately 155 people dying from it each year, accounting for a quarter of all deaths. Colorectal cancer is diagnosed in approximately 40 people annually. This cancer kills over 16 people every year.
According to the latest recommendations, regular intake of aspirin is the basis for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and colorectal cancer among people aged 50 – 59, who have a 10-year risk of developing cardiovascular diseases within 10 years. or more and who are not at risk of gastrointestinal bleeding and have a life expectancy of at least 10 years.
On the other hand, people in the 60-69 age group, whose risk of developing cardiovascular diseases within 10 years is 10%. or more, the decision to take aspirin for prophylactic purposes should be consulted with a doctor.
Researchers emphasize that more research is needed to assess whether regular aspirin intake is beneficial to the health of people under 50 and over 70 years of age.
The latest recommendations are published in the magazine “Annals of Internal Medicine”.
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